I’ve been determined to find fun ways of playing with water beads that didn’t include me tearing my hair out. Read my past experience with water beads if you don’t know what I’m talking about.
I was looking in my craft closet the other day and I saw our can of shaving cream. I immediately thought…shaving cream is getting boring, how can I use it in a different way?
Then BAM! it hit me! Let’s cover the water beads in shaving cream!
I dumped the water beads in our sensory tub and covered them in shaving cream. The texture was amazing!
J isn’t always very happy getting his hand dirty, so I included a spoon and some cups.
He was a little weirded out by the shaving cream and didn’t put his hands all the way in the mess, but he did enjoy scooping up the beads with the cups and dumping them out. He soon forgot that his
hands were covered in shaving cream, and just enjoyed the play.
The best thing about this is that the water beads will not bounce all around when covered in shaving cream. They do make pretty cool designs when dropped though!
It’s an easy clean up because the shaving cream washes off so easily. Remember, water beads can not go down the drain! I used a colander to rinse them off before drying them out again.
This is a wonderful sensory activity for any aged child. It kept J’s attention for a long while and encompasses so many different senses. Plus, for messy play, it’s not THAT messy!
Check out other ways we’ve played with water beads!
Amanda
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We have never played with water beads, but that looks like a lot of fun. I think we’ll be trying it soon!
ooh like this idea combining 2 of my favourite activities never mond what the children like! Kierna
That’s exactly what I thought too! We love both of them too…especially me!
I’ve heard about water beads, but your post convinced me to finally give them a try. I could see some painting activities too…hmmm… 🙂 Thank you for the inspiration!
You must go try them…they really are fun. I haven’t painted with them (yet) but I’ve seen other bloggers do it and it looks awesome! Hope you and your kiddos like the activity.
I haven’t tried water beads yet, but love the idea of mixing them with shaving cream! We’ve been doing quite a bit with shaving cream lately, so your post was very timely!
Try them…they really are pretty cool. I can tolerate them better with the shaving cream. I’m not a big fan of them bouncing all over the house.
That’s a fun looking idea! We’ve got tons of water beads here so it’s great to see some different ways to play with them! Thanks. Now following your blog 🙂
(Learn with Play @ home)
So glad you’re following! I love your blog and look forward to seeing what else you come up with!
I LOVE this combination! My kids just tried shaving cream on its own for the first time this week, and loved it.
Did I read correctly that you dry out water beads and re-use them?
I do dry them out and re-use them! I lay them on a cookie sheet layered with paper towels. It takes a few days, but eventually they end up the same size as they came in the package. Now, I don’t feel bad about throwing them away and it’s more frugal!
Woo Hoo! Can’t wait to do this tomorrow. What a simple (great) idea!
Ahhhhh shaving foam… and water beads – then mix 😀 J would be in heaven.
Thank you for linking to Tuesday Tots this week
Great post! We have only recently started our adventures in water beads and this has definitely been added to our to-do list. Linked back to you in our latest post about water beads (we reversed the process and explored the shrinking water bead)…
http://fitkidsclub.blogspot.com/2012/03/clubhouse-science-dehydration.html
Also, we’re having a fun water bead giveaway if you would like to take a look. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Oh no! I didn’t even think of them not going down the drain! I had a few fall in yesterday. Now I’m very nervous. Cool idea to use shaving cream!
nice idea.. thanks for sharing.
My son and I normally get them and put them in paint and use them to paint with they make fantastic patterns.